In the field of global urban studies, debate continues around postcolonial scholarship and the political economic theories it criticizes. This study assesses these theoretical paradigms in ten megacities across the Global South, using transportation systems as the unit of analysis. A literature review is used to analyze transportation systems based on their conditions for commuters, prevalent modes of transportation, past and present infrastructure priorities, and the sociopolitical implications of transport-related policies. Political economic theories are found to be more applicable in explaining transportation network strains and inequalities, while postcolonialism provides insight into how such challenges are moderated through local government structure and politics. This study suggests that the two paradigms are suited for collaborative analysis and calls upon global urban scholars to sacrifice neither local particularities nor broad forces of urbanization in the study of the city.
Evan Ferstl is a PhD student at Penn State University. His main research interests are within the field of urban sociology, particularly how built environment and transportation characteristics shape social interaction, community dynamics, and civil society. His current projects involve investigating the relationship between walkability and protest in American cities and how transportation networks interface with populations in low and middle income megacities.